Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-08-12


Rsoseasas 0asssea, % Celu0bn College.
From tAs Philadeiphia Telegraph.
President Barnard, Of Coluahis college,
discusses q Considerable length subject Of
no little importance, which u the occasion Of
no little vexatioo 10 both teachers and pupils
and now and again Of considerable derision
On The part Of people who are disposed to
think that taking one thing with another,
there h TOO little alliance between the prac-
tico Of pedagogy and what commonly goes
under the name OF common sense The con-
clusion which Dr. Barnard has been com.
pellod TO come 10 respecting the system Of
msskjnes that has been In use at Columbia
for some time 10 that II IL worthless, and he
plainly expyssses the opinion there that no
nublicatious o. to scholastic merit should be
made except the distinctions Of proficient
end deficient In other words, the president
OF Columbia holds that q student either
Knows what he Processes to know or that
he don't know IT, and that an attempt ut
fine eradstions of merit and demerit 10 fool
ish and In the nature Of things imprActica-
ble More than this he combats the claim
that marks are Q stimulus to the student by
stating that, while II 10 doubtful whether
among the great majority this stimulus Ia
felt ct all, Il II not at al doubtful that among
. large proportion the influence Of the sys-
tom is discourasipg rather than apimating.
And he IL entirely right In this-the system
10 Of necessity discouraging to sll real stu
dsnis-and to oil real teschers for that matter
-and for the excellent reasons that there 10
no way In which IN intelligent and equita
BILE application of 1t can be had. The mark
ing must needs depend upOn the intelli igepce
- upon the intelligence and good sense OF
the pupils, while good teachers will vary
very widely in their markiugs for essen
TALLY the same kind OF mistakes, one giving
the best possible marks where another will
give zero. Not so very long ago, In one OF
the schools Of this city, . tescher who had q
class 10 history In charge undertook tn disci.
pline the youngsters with regard to Daniel
Webster's Bunker Hill oration. The method
Of procedure, however, was not to endesvor
| "god like Daniel" was driving 1t and To
/ express themselves concerning the subject
/ matter, but to bring them up with q round
turn-ss the sailors say-by demanding that
they should tell him what great mistake Mr..
Webster committed in the course OF his sd.
/ dreoA The youngsters guessed all sorts oi
/ things, and these guesses were one and all
pronounced failures and so recorded. II
/ came out afterwards that what the teacher
wanted them to say was that the orator
changed from the ii rst to the second person
in the course OF bis address, This Is one
! instance out Of thousands that might be
cited to prove that teachers who know 4
thing or two themselves are not necessarily
Il
/ people. OF course, In this particular instance
It was neck or nothing with the youngsters
but the same kind OF stupidity and iDcspacity
/ that doomed them oil to zero marks rules Il
. great extent all through the attempts tt
grade the markings OF the pupils In ell th'
schoolA
A good many errors and stupditie,
| need to be corrected IN connection witt
school management generally, and tn,
Il public school mansgement of the city O
L ma mt IN
doubted whether here 10 Philadelphis ther,
IL much greater evil than the system o
marking thst prevsilA That We do not il
the least exsggerate on this point any intelll
will obtain An opportunity ofexsminins SOM
! OF the current school documents and of ques
honing both teachers and pupils concerning
the common practices In this matter OF mari
giving. The only defsnses Of the system ",
! ever heard, are that parents are not satisfied
and make complaints II they are not giveI
/ some information about ths class standing o
their children and the reason; and that th
marks are necessary in order to determine
! concerning promotion. There IL no merit II
either defense. The parents are not entitled
| to any such statements a. the mari king sy steu
permits to DO furnished while to say tha
the standing and capabilities OF pupils canno
bo properly determined without the figure
| splitting that goes On In connection witt
every examination, 10 for those who max
l the statement to confess their own incapacity
President Barnard makes II plain that, .
regards the colleges, he believes the marking
system In any shape other than that which
he has suggested for record OF proficiency
| or deficiency, to be inexpedient and vicious
but he suggests that II tho practices of grazing
| must be contiDu ued, the matter hsd better bt
lett to free suffrage OF all concerned, each
student to PROFOUND the order OF merit OF all
his class mates, and the authoritative list &c
be made ny the ordinary way OF counting the
| ballots. Dr. Barnard Gays that this method
| and no other, was practised at Yale in ths
| early part Of the century and down to 1880
| and that II WAS only abandoned III the beie
that the daily marks would keep the studen
| closer to his work. This, however, he em
phatically contends that they do not do
/ while - q special merit of the ballot plan b,
| claims that "it would prevent tic,itIou
scholarship represented by marks often OBJ
tained by methods OF equivocai character"